Cut Loose: Jobless and Hopeless in an Unfair Economy"Years after the Great Recession, the economy is still weak, and an unprecedented number of workers have sunk into long spells of unemployment, increasingly unlikely to get another good job in their lifetimes. Based on a careful crossnational comparison, "Cut Loose" describes the experiences of American and Canadian unemployed workers and the impact of the different social policies meant to help them. It focuses on a historically important group: autoworkers. Their well-paid factory jobs built a strong middle class in the decades after World War II. But today, they find themselves lost and beleaguered in a changed economy of greater inequality and risk, one that favors the well-educated--or well-connected. Their declining fortunes tell us something about what the white-collar workforce should expect in the years ahead, as job-killing technologies and the shipping of work overseas take away even more good jobs. Their frustrating experiences with retraining question whether education is really the cure-all it is made out to be. And their grim prospects in the job market reveal today's frenzied competition and harsh culture of judgment that has trickled down to a group long known for its strong belief in equality. "Cut Loose" provides a poignant look at how the long-term unemployed struggle in today's unfair economy to support their families, rebuild their lives, and cope with shame and self-blame. Yet it is also a call to action--a blueprint for a new kind of politics, one that offers a measure of grace in a society of ruthless advancement."--Provided by publisher. |
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action centers African American American Dream argue asked auto autoworkers Benefit USD better blue-collar blue-collar workers buyout Canada Canadian capital career chapter Child Child Tax Credit Chrysler competition coworkers Credit USD culture David decades Detroit economic egalitarian Elena elites employers factory Ford former parts worker going gonna grace Hannah hard households income individuals inequality institutions jobless Karl Polanyi kids labor market layoffs less educated living long-term unemployed marriage ment merit meritocratic morality Michigan months Ontario ordinary workers parents percent plant political problem recent recession retraining Richard Sennett Royce says self-blame skills social policies social safety social safety net society struggling Tamar Tax Credit tend things tion today’s told unem unemployed workers unemployment benefits unions University Press Vincent wages weeks white-collar Windsor York